Bio

Christopher Bernard Wilder was born on March 13, 1945, in Sydney, New South Wales. He was the oldest of four sons. His father, Coley Chapman Wilder, was an American naval officer, and his mother, June Wilder, was from Australia. Christopher faced a challenging start to life, as he nearly died at birth. When he was two years old, he almost drowned in a swimming pool.

Growing up, Wilder had a normal childhood, but at the age of 17, he committed a serious crime when he raped a 13-year-old girl. This incident occurred in Freshwater, where he was with two other men. Wilder was sentenced to probation for this crime. Later in life, he claimed that he received electroshock therapy, which he said affected his behavior. However, some sources argue that there is no evidence he actually received such treatment.

In 1968, Wilder got married to a woman named Christine. Their marriage did not last long because Christine left him after he was questioned about several sexual assaults at Manly Beach. She later reported to the police that Wilder had tried to seduce both her mother and sister. She also discovered photographs of young women in compromising situations in his car and mentioned that he had tried to harm her on two occasions.

After his divorce, Wilder was involved in other troubling incidents. He used nude photographs to blackmail an Australian student nurse into having sex with him. Despite being charged, the case did not go to trial because the nurse did not testify. In 1969, Wilder moved to the United States, settling in Boynton Beach, Florida. He entered the real estate business and was successful in his new life. He had a passion for photography and even turned a bedroom in his home into a darkroom.

Between 1971 and 1975, Wilder faced several charges related to sexual assault but was never sentenced to jail time. He would often lure women under the guise of offering modeling contracts, a tactic he would continue to use later in his life. In 1977, a psychologist labeled him a "mentally disordered sex offender," noting that he had a need to dominate women.

In 1982, while visiting his parents in Australia, Wilder was charged with sexual offenses involving two 15-year-old girls. He forced them to pose nude after luring them to Manly Beach. Although his parents posted bail for him, he later returned to Florida to await trial, which never happened. Other young girls identified Wilder as the man who had abducted them and forced them to perform sexual acts in 1983.

Wilder's early life was marked by troubling behavior and several instances of sexual misconduct. These patterns would continue to develop and lead him down a dark path.

Murder Story

Christopher Bernard Wilder, also known as the Beauty Queen Killer, committed a series of murders across the United States in early 1984. His crime spree began in February and lasted for about six weeks. He abducted at least twelve young women and girls, killing eight of them. His first known victim was 21-year-old Rosario Teresa Gonzalez, who went missing during the Miami Grand Prix on February 26, 1984. Witnesses saw her leaving the event with a man matching Wilder's description.

Wilder's former girlfriend, Elizabeth "Beth" Ann Kenyon, went missing soon after on March 5. Her car was later found abandoned. On March 18, he murdered 21-year-old Theresa Anne Ferguson, whose body was discovered days later in Canaveral Groves, Florida. On March 20, he abducted 19-year-old Linda Grover from a mall in Tallahassee and took her to Georgia, where he inflicted serious harm upon her.

Wilder continued south into Texas, where he murdered 23-year-old Terry Diane Walden after abducting her. He then traveled to Oklahoma City, where he kidnapped 21-year-old Suzanne Wendy Logan, later stabbing her to death in Kansas. He also killed 18-year-old Sheryl Lynn Bonaventura in Colorado, after keeping her captive for a time.

On April 1, Wilder abducted 17-year-old Michelle Lynn Korfman from a modeling competition in Las Vegas, and her body was found later on in Southern California. He then took 16-year-old Tina Marie Risico, holding her captive along with other victims through various states. In a particularly violent episode, he attacked 16-year-old Dawnette Sue Wilt in New York, but she managed to escape and alert the police.

Wilder's last known acts of violence included abducting 33-year-old Beth Elaine Dodge and shooting her, after which he dumped her body. He attempted to abduct several other women during this time. Wilder's crime spree came to an end on April 13, 1984, when he encountered law enforcement in New Hampshire. In a scuffle with police, he accidentally shot himself and died, while one of the officers was seriously injured.

Following his death, Wilder became associated with many other unsolved murders and disappearances, raising suspicions about his possible connections to other violent crimes across the United States and Australia.